


Eat or Bed?

by onepageatatime715



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas, MAAS Sarah J. - Works
Genre: A Court of Thorns and Roses - Freeform, Angst, Canon Compliant, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Sarah J Maas, War, a court of mist and fury, a court of wings and ruin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 04:50:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10869462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onepageatatime715/pseuds/onepageatatime715
Summary: Set during Chapter 63 of A Court of Wings and Ruin.All characters and names belong to Sarah J Maas.





	Eat or Bed?

I’d been watching Nesta all through dinner – ever since she’d agreed to search for the Cauldron. She was still pale, still quiet, so at odds with the female I had come to know. Has been, all through dinner. And it was the worry for her, not the pain from the injury in my gut, that had me going stir-crazy.

“Eat or bed?” The question was out of my mouth before I realized I’d meant to say it. Nesta turned to me slowly, her face still so pale and drawn.

 _You’ll tear your stitches,_ Rhys drawled to me mentally.

But Nesta just said “Bed”, her exhausted reply enough to have me struggling to my feet to escort her back to her tent, Rhys’ presumptions be damned.

I caught his smirk as we made our way out of the tent, but no more words of wisdom whispered against my mental barriers as we slowly made our way into the night.

With my injuries and Nesta’s exhaustion, it took longer than usual to reach her tent, and I savoured every moment with her. We didn’t talk as we walked, but I knew she was as keenly aware of my presence as I was of hers. And I could swear the same disappointment I felt flitted across her face as we reached her tent. I made to turn away as she open her tent flap, but her voice stopped me dead in my tracks.

“Would you… Come in?” Nesta asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

I turned back to her, regarding the female before me carefully. This thing between us – even if she didn’t know what it was – was still so fragile, so new. I couldn’t risk it, not even now.

“Nesta,” I started, but she waved me off.

“Just to talk,” she said. “I don’t want to be alone.”

And so I slipped into her tent behind her.

Nesta seated herself on the edge of the bed and indicated that I could do that same. I sunk down gratefully, wincing at the pain in my said as I did so.

Of course she noticed.

“I was watching” Nesta said quietly. “I was up on the hill, watching, even after Mor and Feyre left. I saw you fall.”

Her voice broke on the last word, and I dragged my hazel eyes to her blue-grey ones, only to find them shining with tears.

“I saw you fall Cassian, and there was nothing I could do,” Nesta whispered. “And all I could think was that if I hadn’t been so damn stubborn, if I had trained with you, like you asked, I could have _helped_.”

Tears flowed down her cheeks in earnest now, and I tossed caution into the wind as I pulled Nesta into my arms and onto my lap, holding her close as sobs wracked her body.

I ran my hands through her hair, and down her back, drawing soothing patterns as I did so. To see her like this – without her walls – it nearly broke me. Every instinct in my body was screaming to winnow her away to safety, to hide her, to protect my –

Nesta’s scent filled my nose as she leaned into me, and I pressed my lips to her hair, breathing in the smell of her, relishing in the feel of her body against mine.

“I’m okay, Nesta,” I murmured into her hair. She responded by snuggling closer, and I tightened my arms around her. “I’m okay.”

Nesta looked up then, and with our faces so close, I could see every detail of her face, from the flecks of silver in her blue-grey eyes to the almost imperceptible freckles that lines her nose and cheekbones. I was so enthralled with her, so entranced, that I almost didn’t notice as she leaned forward and captured my lips with her own.

It was a gently kiss – a caress. I brought my hands up to her face, cupping the back for her neck and her cheek with them as I deepened the kiss, my body humming with satisfaction, my aches forgotten for a moment. Nesta’s hands found their way into my hair and I quietly groaned into her mouth, savouring the feel of her hands on me.

Too soon, she broke away too soon, and my body cried out for her, for more – always more in this battle between us. Though I was unsure where the lines were now.

“Should I expect a kick in the balls now?” I whispered. Nesta’s lips turned up slightly at the memory, but she just shook her head.

“I think you’ve taken enough of a beating for today,” she murmured. Her lips – now that I had felt them, tasted them, I couldn’t keep my eyes off them. And this time it was me who pulled her into a kiss – this one deeper, more claiming than the first.

Nesta’s hands weren’t just in my hair anymore either – they found their way to my arms, to my back, exploring the hard planes of my body. It was an effort not to shiver at every touch, not to beg the female in my arms for more. My own hands slid lower, to rest on her hips and the small of her back, my thumbs drawing lazy circles on the exposed skin.

When Nesta moaned into the kiss it was nearly my undoing.

Our kiss became rough, searching, neither of us yielding as Nesta straddled me on the bed, careful of my injuries as her hands explored my body – though she avoided my wings. A small mercy, for now. Her hands set my body aflame with each touch, her fingers tracing the tattoos on my arms, then running down my back, and finally slipping beneath my shirt.

I growled into the kiss then, my instincts roaring for more, to claim. Nesta didn’t stop her perusal of my flesh, and I was more than willing to help her shrug off my shirt. I broke off the kiss and leaned back, watching her as she traced my tattoos down my chest – to the stitches on my abdomen.

Nesta’s face tightened, and I reached forward to gently grab her chin, drawing her eyes back to mine.

“I’m okay, Nesta,” I whispered again. She nodded, her lips still pulled tight, but continued her tracing of my tattoos, back up my chest, right to my wings.

As her first finger delicately touched my wing, unsure, I shivered, nearly groaning at the sensation that rippled through my wing. She ran another finger down the wing, her face curious, and I shivered again, barely biting back the groan that rose in my throat.

“What does it feel like?” Nesta breathed. Her eyes were studying my face – studying whatever emotion was on there as she stroked my wings.

I grinned wickedly and leaned forward to trace my lips along the sensitive part of her neck, barely more than a whisper of a touch. She gasped and arched her body towards mine, and I chuckled softly.

“Like that,” I whispered in her ear.

Nesta flashed me her own wicked grin before tracing a line down the other wing, and this time I didn’t hold back my groan as I buried my face in her neck.

Gods, I wanted her. But damn him, Rhys was right.

“Nesta,” I ground out, each word a struggle.

“Cassian,” Nesta replied. Her lips – what would they feel like on my wings?

“We should sleep,” I hated myself for the words, when we both knew sleep was the exact opposite of what we wanted.

Nesta’s eyes dropped again to the stitches on my abdomen, and I silently cursed.

“Nesta,” I growled, drawing her eyes back to mine. “I am okay.”

“Cassian,” she began.

“We’re not going to rush this – when we get back to Velaris, we’ll have all the time in the world,” I said. “And I fully intend to use that time to court you properly.”

Nesta’s skin flushed slightly pink at that, but she nodded, leaning forward to kiss me before sliding off my lap and onto the bed. My body cried out at the loss of contact, but I forced myself not to pull her back – knowing that if I did, I wouldn’t stop myself a second time.

I stood to leave, dreading having to slip out of this tent and away from her, but again her voice stopped me.

“Stay, Cassian,” she said, “I don’t think I could sleep alone, not tonight.”

And so I slipped back into bed, gathering the eldest of the Archeron sisters in my arms as I cocooned her in my wings, pleased beyond measure to finally have her drift off to sleep in my arms.


End file.
